The power of a stooshie: Learning the lessons of stop and search in Scotland for implementing organisational change in policing

In 2014, the newly formed Police Scotland experienced intense and prolonged scrutiny in relation to historical and ongoing stop and search practice. The stop and search ‘stooshie’ continued for over three years and resulted in significant changes to policy, practice and related legislation. While initially defensive in the face of outside challenge, Police Scotland has come to a position of active engagement with external partners and governance groups. While this journey was a long and difficult one for many of those involved (including government ministers, official oversight groups, the media and academic researchers as well as police officers), it is regarded as ending in an overall (although not complete) success for the organisation, and one from which other police services could learn in relation to implementing organisational change. This chapter will explore Police Scotland’s path to reforming stop and search, its successes and failures along the way, and how lessons here taken from an organisational justice framing can apply to organisational change in other police jurisdictions.